Guideposts Buys Ellie Claire/Summerside Press

Guideposts has acquired Ellie Claire Gift & Paper Expressions in a deal that also includes Ellie Claire's Summerside Press Christian book imprint. Summerside has a backlist of 84 titles in fiction and nonfiction, while Ellie Claire produces a range of items for the gift market.

Lagardere Feels Full Impact of Meyer; HBG Digital Sales at 9%

The absence of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight titles made its most significant impact yet this year on Lagardere Publishing in the third quarter as sales fell about 7% in the period, to 634 million euros. The decline in third quarter sales dropped nine months revenue by 5%, to 1.61 billion euros. E-book sales remained strong, accounting for 9% of Hachette Book Group USA's sales in the nine months.

Third-Quarter Scorecard

Sales Down, But Earnings Up at S&S

Despite a 5.5% decline in sales, adjusted operating income at Simon & Schuster rose 10.9% in the third quarter, to $29.5 million. Revenue in the period fell to $217.7 million. For the first nine months of the year, earnings jumped over 42%, to $46.7 million, despite a 2.4% decline in sales to $559.1 million. S&S CEO Carolyn Reidy credited the strong earnings improvement to a variety of factors, among them "cost containment."

Earnings Rise at S&S Despite Sales Decline

Despite a 5.5% decline in sales, adjusted operating income at Simon & Schuster rose 10.9% in the third quarter, to $29.5 million. Revenue in the period fell to $217.7 million.

Second Quarter Dip at Educational Development Corp.

With sales in its home business division falling 9.6%, to $3.0 million, in the second quarter ended August 31, total revenue at Educational Development Corp. fell 4.2%, to $5.7 million and earnings dipped to $190,200 from $225,400 in the comparable quarter in fiscal 2010. The drop in sales in the home unit was attributed to declines in home party, direct, and online sales. Sales in the publishing group rose 2.5%, to $2.7 million, led by higher sales to smaller retail stores.

HarperCollins Sales Fall

It took a while following its acquisition of Dow Jones Co., but in its first quarter for fiscal 2011, News Corp. has lumped HarperCollins into a group with integrated marketing services (supermarket inserts) and the newspaper and information segment. The official News release makes no mention of how HarperCollins performed in the period, although News Corp.'s filing with the SEC said sales at Harper were lower in the quarter "because of fewer new releases."

U.S. Hurts Harlequin, Though Digital Sales Jump 73%

A weak U.S. dollar and economy had a negative impact on Harlequin's third quarter results with retail sales in North America down, offsetting gains in direct-to-consumer and overseas sales. Overall, Harlequin's revenue fell 4.1%, to C$117.5 million ($118 million), although operating profits inched up to C$23.0 million from C$22.9 million. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales and earnings would have both increased by about C$1.4 million.

Barnes & Noble Amends Poison Pill

With the vote on its shareholder's right plan scheduled for November 17, the Barnes & Noble board of directors has amended the so-called poison pill to limit the amount of new shares controlled by the Riggio family. Under the changes, the board would not be able to make any additional equity grants to Len Riggio, Steve Riggio and their immediate family members without triggering the provisions in the rights plan.

Scholastic to Repurchase Over 5 Million Shares

Scholastic reported this morning that based on preliminary results it expects to purchase 5,231,349 common shares, at a price of $30.00 per share for a total cost of $156.9 million under a Dutch auction announced in late September.

North Carolina Blocked from Collecting Amazon Customer Data in Sales Tax Dispute

A few days after becoming enmeshed in a sales tax issue in Texas, Amazon won a round regarding North Carolina, where the online retail giant is in court over a sales tax dispute. A federal judge ruled against North Carolina's request for Amazon customer data, stating that the request is unconstitutional, violating First Amendment rights.

McGraw-Hill Education Posts Good Third Quarter

A boost in state adoptions, particularly in Texas, helped lift revenue at McGraw-Hill Education 5.5% in the third quarter, to $1.1 billion, while operating profits, aided by cost controls, increased nearly 20%, to $357.5 million. Revenue for the school education group rose 6.7%, to $534.7 million in the quarter, while sales in the higher education, professional and international group increased 4.3%, to $520.0 million.

Penguin Sales up 5%

In an update on its nine month results, Pearson said that sales for Penguin rose 5%. A tough retail environment, Pearson said, has been offset by "strong publishing and rapid growth in e-book sales."

Print, Digital Book Sales Accelerated in Third Quarter, Amazon Says

Amazon posted its usual big jump in top line sales, with the third quarter revenue increasing 38.7%, to $7.56 billion, while net income rose 16%, to $231 million. The largest gains came in its electronics and other general merchandise segment where sales rose 68% overall and 80% in North America. The segment, which benefited from acquisitions, is home to sales of the Kindle. Media sales grew at a much more modest rate, up 14% in total and 13% in North America.

iPad Total Nears 7.5 Million

Apple sold 4.19 million iPads in the quarter ended September 30, the company said yesterday, bringing the total sold to just under 7.5 million since the device was released in April.

OverDrive Gets New Investor

OverDrive, the global distributor of e-books, audiobooks and digital content services to retailers, libraries, and schools, announced this morning that it has received new funding from Insight Venture Partners, a private equity firm focused on technology companies. With what was termed a major investment, Peter Sobiloff and Larry Handen, both managing directors at Insight, will join OverDrive's board.

AAP August Sales Report

In August, for the second consecutive month, e-book sales jumped while sales in all print trade segments declined, according to AAP's monthly sales estimates.

Barnes & Noble Sets Shareholder Meeting

Barnes & Noble will hold a special shareholder meeting November 17 to vote on the adoption of the company's Shareholder Rights Plan that was passed by B&N's board of directors last fall in response to the rapid accumulation of its shares by Ron Burkle. The implementation of the poison pill was one factor that led Burkle to field an alternative slate of candidate to oppose the B&N-backed nominees led by chairman Len Riggio. It was not known whether Burkle will work to block ratification of the plan.

2010 Ranking of the Global Publishing Industry

Livres Hebdo has released its annual rankings of publishing companies from across the world, published in cooperation with Buchreport (Allemagne), The Bookseller (United Kingdom) and Publishers Weekly (USA). The rankings were released at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Industry Stocks: September Performances

Helped by a 7.8% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index jumped 15.5% in September, with all but one of the companies on the Index posting an increase in their stock price.